They died 16 Nov 11, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion; 5th Infantry Regiment; 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team; 25th Infantry Division from Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
Killed were: SPC James R. Burnett Jr., 21, of Wichita, Kan.; and PFC Matthew C. Colin, 22, of Navarre, Fla.
Ken Colin said on his Facebook post that he intended to be at Dover Air Force Base, Del., on Thursday afternoon when his son’s body was returned. He later sent a message from Dover thanking the many friends and family who have commented on his posts since Matt Colin’s death.
Matt Colin is survived by his father, his mother Kathy and his older brother, Michael.
The death occurred earlier this week, according to Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations, which was charged with bringing Colin’s remains home.
Matt Colin joined the Army after he graduated from Navarre in 2007, according to Amanda Bishop, a teacher there.
Bishop and others who knew Colin used the word “exceptional” to describe him.
“He was soft spoken, a great athlete, a class act. This is a tragic loss,” said Mike McHenry, a friend of the family.
Bishop teaches a course at Navarre called Family Dynamics, which requires a lot of interaction between students and instructors.
“You get to see these students and what they are about. Matthew was a sincere, genuine, hard working kid,” she said. “I remember him as being upbeat, compassionate and very involved.”
Bishop said Colin was extremely close to his family and “always had time to help his friends.”
“I imagine the passion he had for his friends extended to the passion he had for his country,” a weeping Bishop said. “He died for what he was passionate about. He is going to be missed.”
McHenry said Colin was an exceptional athlete in high school who likely was going to make a career of his military service.
“He loved every minute of it,” he said. “He thought he was making a difference.”
On his Facebook page, Ken Colin stated that two other members of his son’s unit had been killed in recent days.
Although the Army did not provide confirmation, Matt Colin apparently was attached to the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. The two soldiers Ken Colin referenced on his Facebook post were with that combat team.
McHenry said he believed Matt Colin’s deployment to Afghanistan was nearing an end when he was killed.
Navarre High School Principal Brian Noack said “The entire Raider Nation” was mourning the loss.
“Our hearts go out to the family and friends during this most difficult time,” Noack said in an email statement. “Matthew paid the ultimate sacrifice for the country he loved and for the freedoms that we all so often take for granted.
Words cannot express the gratitude and pride that Matt has brought to his country, his school and his community.”
They are respectively the 1,836th and 1,837th Americans killed in Afghanistan … Ich hatt’ einen Kameraden
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